UK inflation exceeded forecasts in April, driven by utility bills and travel. Learn how this impacts BoE policies, markets, and your investments.

Britain suffered a bigger-than-expected inflation surge in April, including in areas watched closely by the Bank of England which investors now believe will have to slow its already gradual pace of interest rate cuts.

The Consumer Price Index jumped 2.3% in April from the year before, below March’s 2.4% increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday.

Annualized inflation eased to a 2.3 percent pace, the lowest since early 2021. But the month-to-month pace of inflation increased.

A certain white-knuckle angst accompanied Britain’s early-morning inflation releases in 2022 and 2023, when prices were rising at a pace not seen in decades. Lately, the mood has been calmer. But new figures for April, published on May 21st, brought unwelcome flashbacks to the economists, traders and mandarins watching the data.

Inflation rose slightly less than expected in April despite the arrival of President Donald Trump's sweeping international tariffs early in the month, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report on Tuesday.

South Africa's inflation rose marginally in April due to higher food prices but remained below the central bank's target range, statistics agency data showed on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve will have little reason to change its wait-and-see stance as a result of April's inflation reading from the consumer-price index. The figures were largely in line with the expectations of forecasters who closely track how the Labor Department measures inflation.